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Oilers overcome the Thunder 4-3.

For everyone who wondered what difference an affiliation might make for the Tulsa Oilers hockey club, you don’t have to look any farther than the newest member of the team, Harrison Reed.

The 22 year old Newmarket Ontario native made his presence known by scoring two goals in the Oilers 4-3 come from behind victory over the Wichita Thunder on Friday night. Reed scored two goals in the first period that kept the Oilers in the game after the Thunder’s Jesse Bennefield did the same thing for the Thunder.

“Harrison Reed got sent down from the Lake Erie Monsters and he’s a 3rd round draft pick of the CarolinA Hurricanes, “Coach Bruce Ramsay said after the game, “He’s young and he’s a prospect and they sent down here to get some work and some playing time. He’s here to help us but it’s also my job to get him up and get him back there as quickly as possible.”

Down 3-2 in the second period the Oilers were faced with a 5-on-3 penalty kill and Goalie Trevor Cann stood on his head keeping the puck out of the net. During that same power play Mike Beausoleil fired a laser beam of a shot at Thunder goalie Ian Keserich that bounced off his glove and into the net. The combination of the play of those two players in that time frame proved to be a turning point in a game where the Oilers seemed to be a little out of gas, especially in the early stages.

“Mike Beausoleil played outstanding,” Ramsay began, “we were down 3-2 with a five on three and if they score a goal who knows what might happen but instead Mike scores the goal down 2 men and we get the goal. Mike is working his butt off and we’re glad to have him back.

“Trevor (Cann) didn’t have the best first period but once he settled down he played great,” Ramsay continued, “He’s a good goalie and he really battled back.”

Chad Costello got the other goal for the Oilers at 18:25 of the third period to seal the game, and Ramsay was very complimentary of his 25 year old forward from Johnston Iowa. “(Chad ) played great, he’s a highly skilled player who makes great plays.” Ramsay said.

“Overall I thin we played decent for our very first game together,“ Ramsay said, “We were very good on the penalty kill and on the power play and like we were talking about before the game, tonight the game would be won in the specialty battles. Trevor played well, although he missed a few saves that I think he wished he had back but we did well for a young team that has only been together two weeks.”

The Oilers will be in action again tomorrow night against the Thunder at 7:05pm in the InTrust Bank Arena in Wichita. The Oilers will continue the early season road swing through Bossier City, Louisiana next Tuesday to face the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs at 6:35pm. The Oilers return to the amazing BOK Center on October 26 to face the Colorado Eagles for the first “Two-dollar Tuesday” featuring $2 beer and pop specials.